'I did not lie for Tweedy' - Roberts

Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy was punched twice in the face by nightclub toilet attendant before she retaliated, one of her fellow band members has said in court.

Nicola Roberts, 18, said Sophie Amogbokpa threw the first punch in the row and then hit Tweedy again before her friend hit her back.

Under cross-examination the singer denied having made up the story about the two punches to help her friend and insisted she would never lie for anybody.

Prosecuting Patricia Lees suggested to Miss Roberts that she had invented the story in the nightclub as a "lifeline" for Tweedy because she knew her friend was in "real trouble".

The flame-haired singer insisted Mrs Amogbokpa first punched her fellow band member as she rummaged around in her handbag to get some change to pay for a handful of lollipops she had taken from a display in the club`s ladies lavatory.

She told Kingston Crown Court that she then ran out of the toilet to fetch a security guard and as she came back in she saw the toilet attendant hit Tweedy again in the face with a clenched fist.

"She (Tweedy) just retaliated in self defence as anybody would if they had been punched in the face," said Miss Roberts.